About Presidio » History
| Presidio School of Management continues a 30-year-old tradition of innovative, sustainability-focused, experiential education, which began in 1973 with the founding of World College West by Dr. Richard Gray. World College West was an undergraduate liberal arts college that integrated world-study with a work-study liberal arts program. Developing its own environmentally-designed campus on 200 acres in northern Marin County, the College also had program sites in Mexico, Nepal, China and Russia. The College operated until 1992, four years after the founder's retirement in 1988. In 1996, soon after the Presidio of San Francisco was converted to an urban national park, Presidio World College established its presence on this beautiful 1,480-acre natural setting in one of the nation's most attractive cities. For several years, the College offered non-degree courses and seminars in a program known as Later-Life Design, focusing on areas that contribute to successful, integrated living in the second half of life. The College then in 1999 signed a one-year contract with Vermont's Goddard College, which enabled Presidio to pilot-test, during the 2000-2001 academic year, a BA-completion program known as SEED – Sustainable, Ethical Enterprise Design. Presidio soon found that prospective students were more interested in an MBA program than a BA degree. And in August 2003, Presidio began to offer the MBA program in Sustainable Management, through its affiliation with Alliant International University. The following year Presidio became known as Presidio School of Management. Through the Alliant affiliation, Presidio School of Management is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Alliant offers 700 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in disciplines such as education, business, international relations, clinical psychology and organizational behavior. It is a not-for-profit, independent university with six California locations – including San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego – and locations in Mexico City and Tokyo. The University was founded in 2001 through the merger of United States International University and the California School of Professional Psychology. Learn about the people at Presidio School of Management: | | » Vision |
